Jewelry article for interchangeable ornaments, and means for disengaging said ornament

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an interchangeable ornament mount for an article of jewelry having a head member defining a plurality of substantially separately operable pronged sections for gripping a removably inserted ornament inserted therein, a conically shaped spring disposed within said head member urging said ornament against the indented gripping surfaces of the prongs, an aperture being provided in a base portion of said head member for insertion of a tool to eject the ornament.

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,739,598 Postel 1 June 19, 1973 54 JEWELRY ARTICLE FOR 2,883,048 4/1959 Lentz 63/30 ux INTERCHANGEABLE ORNAMENTS, AND

, MEANS FOR DISENGAGING SAID ORNAMENT Edward Postel, 6330 Azalea Lane, Dallas, Tex. 75230 Filed: Aug. 16, 1971 Appl. No.: 172,283

Related U.S. Application Data Inventor:

Division of Ser. No. 824,504, May 14, 1969, Pat. No.

U.S. CL 63/29 R, 63/30, 29/227 Int. Cl. A44c 17/02 Field of Search 63/29, 30, 26, 27;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Conto et al. 63/29 R Primary Examiner-F. Barry Shay Attorney-John F. Booth and Richards, Harris & Hubbard [57] ABSTRACT Disclosed is an interchangeable ornament mount for an article ofjewelry having a head member defining a plurality of substantially separately operable pronged sections for gripping a removably inserted ornament inserted therein, a conically shaped spring disposed within said head member urging said ornament against the indented gripping surfaces of the prongs, an aperture being provided in a base portion of said head mem' her for insertion of a tool to eject the ornament.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 JEWELRY ARTICLE FOR INTERCI-IANGEABLE ORNAMENTS, AND MEANS FOR DISENGAGING SAID ORNAMENT This is a division of Application Ser. No. 824,504 filed May 14, 1969, now US. Pat. No. 3,643,467.

This invention relates to jewelry, more particularly to an improved construction for an ornament mount, and even more particularly to a changeable ornament setting construction.

The present day trend in the apparel industry involves rapidly changing styles in clothing, accessories, and the like. As a consequence of these rapidly changing styles, what was once fashionable wear soon becomes outmoded, and consequently discarded. The same trend appears, to some degree, in the jewelry business where many of the jewelry or ornament styles particularly adapted to complement an existing clothing style also becomes outmoded when that clothing style becomes unfashionable.

Conventional jewelry or ornament mounts designed for rings, pins, necklaces, and the like usually provide for permanent retention of the specific jewel or stone therein; thus, if a different style ornament or stone is desired to complement a new apparel style, the entire jewelry piece must be discarded and a new one purchased embodying the desired gem.

It'is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide a mount for an article of jewelry which enables the wearer to easily remove and interchange the gem or ornament disposed therein.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a new and improved construction for a changeable ornament setting adapted to firmly and evenly grip any one of a number of different type and styled ornaments.

In accordance with these and other objects, the present invention is directed to an ornament mount for a jewelry piece adapted to disengageably grip the desired gem or ornament type. The mount includes a pronged head member or setting housing a spring seat, the spring seat urging the ornament into gripping engagement with the prongs. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the head member defines a plurality of separately operable sections, each section including a paired set of prongs having indented gripping surfaces. The ornament is then easily snapped into or removed from the setting. A

Other features and advantages of the invention are contained in the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein identical numerals refer to similar parts, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded pictorial view of the ornament mount of the invention;

FIG. 2 (2A, 2B, and 2C) illustrate a cross sectional view of the mount gripping different type ornaments;

FIG. 3 shows the removal of the ornament from the novel mount of the invention; and

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the ornament mount affixed to a jewelry pin.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ornament mount of the present invention includes a head member or setting 11, preferably somewhat circular in shape, having a peripheral wall portion 12 open at the top and tapering outwardly from the base 16. The peripheral wall portion 12 defines a plurality of flexible prongs 13 hav- I ing indented gripping surfaces 14 17 for engaging the particular ornament piece.

Disposed within the head member 11 is a conical shaped spring 20 whose lower portion 21 rests upon or engages the base 16 of the member 11. The housing or head 11, and the spring 20 is affixed or swedged to a portion 30 of the particular jewelry piece by means of the rivet or eyelet 31. The spring serves as a seat or platform upon which the lower portion of the particular ornament 18, for example the full ball stone of FIG. 1, sits. In addition, the spring 20 urges the ornament l8 upward until securely engaged by the gripping fingers or surfaces 14 17.

As indicated in FIG. 2, the mount structure 10 of the invention is adapted to disengageably grip any number of different type and styled ornaments 18 regardless of their shape. For example, in FIG. 2A a facet stone has its lower face 40 nested within and surrounded by the spring seat 20, the spring also urging the gem upward to the point where its upper ridge 41 is evenly held securely by gripping fingers 14 17. In FIG. 2B, a half ball gem has its flat lower face 42 riding upon the spring seat 20, while in FIG. 2C, a lower portion of the full ball gem rides within the spring seat 20. In each instance, the spring seat is in varying degrees of expansion to urge the particular ornament or gem into engagement with all of the gripping surfaces 14 17 of the prongs 13. I

As indicated in the drawings, and as a particular feature of the invention, the prongs 13 are arranged in paired sets, the sets separated from one another by elongated notches 25, thereby to provide independently operable sections. The circumferential distance between the gripping surfaces associated with a particular set, for instance between and 14b, is greater than the circumferential distance between the gripping surfaces of adjacent sets, for example between 14b and 15a. As a consequence of these features, each of the paired sets or sections of flexible prongs acts independently of one another to firmly hold and seat the particular gem. The interaction of the individual sets of prongs with the spring seat 20 evenly exposes the top surfaces of each of the gems shown in FIGS. 2A 2C.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the mount structure 10 may be employed with many different types ofjewelry pieces, for example a ring (FIG. 3) or a pin (FIG. 4), With particular reference to FIG. 3, there is illustrated the means for removing one type of ornament for replacement by another. Accordingly, there is provided a tool 50, for example, having an extended or elongated portion 51 and a finger gripping portion. Portion 51 is initially inserted through apertures in the rivet 31 and base portion 16 of the setting 11, and thereafter pressed against the bottom surface of the ball 25 to disengage this gem from the grip of fingers l4 17. It is thus seen that the spring 20 also assists in. ejecting the gem from its mounting, mount 10 then being readied for the insertion of a different style stone, for example. The ornament may also be removed without the use of the tool 50 by manually drawing back on one of the paired prong sections, the spring 20 thereby ejecting the ornament from its seating position.

Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as additional embodiments, may become apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

3 4 1. A jewelry article having a mounting head for interin said base, and changeably receiving ornaments of different sizes or c. means insertable through said elongated opening shapes, said mounting head comprising: 7 and said aperture in the base portion into said open a. a base portion having extending therefrom an encavity for disengaging said ornament from said reclosing peripheral wall portion defining an open siliently operable sections, said elongated opening cavity for receiving respective ones of said ornaproviding a guide for said insertable means. ments, said peripheral wall defining resiliently op- 2. The jewelry article as defined by claim 1 wherein erable sections for snapping around and detachably said elongated opening and Said base portion aperture gripping one of said ornaments, said base portion are centrally disposed with respect to said cavity. having an aperture defined therein, 10 3. The jewelry article as defined by claim 2 wherein b. fastening means coupling said base portion to said said insertable means includes a finger gripping porjewelry article, said fastening means having an tion. elongated opening in alignment with the aperture 

1. A jewelry article having a mounting head for interchangeably receiving ornaments of different sizes or shapes, said mounting head comprising: a. a base portion having extending therefrom an enclosing peripheral wall portion defining an open cavity for receiving respective ones of said ornaments, said peripheral wall defining resiliently operable sections fOr snapping around and detachably gripping one of said ornaments, said base portion having an aperture defined therein, b. fastening means coupling said base portion to said jewelry article, said fastening means having an elongated opening in alignment with the aperture in said base, and c. means insertable through said elongated opening and said aperture in the base portion into said open cavity for disengaging said ornament from said resiliently operable sections, said elongated opening providing a guide for said insertable means.
 2. The jewelry article as defined by claim 1 wherein said elongated opening and said base portion aperture are centrally disposed with respect to said cavity.
 3. The jewelry article as defined by claim 2 wherein said insertable means includes a finger gripping portion. 